Page 26 of Run For Your Honey

And the last thing I needed was assault on my record in the middle of a mayoral race.

Poppy crossed my mind again, and I swallowed the bitter taste I’d acquired from hurting her. Contrary to what Mama thought, my choice wasn’t really a choice. More of a political gun to my temple.

And there was only one way to survive.

10

SNOWBALL’S CHANCE

POPPY

“…which is why we should be doing what we can to help others.”

My sisters clapped at me from the breakfast table, lists of questions in front of them and me standing at the other end. We’d been prepping for two days for the debate, but I had a feeling it would be pointless. As much as I wanted to believe we’d have a fair and unbiased discussion, I knew my town better than that.

It didn’t help that Duke was likely to outperform me on every level.

Nobody wanted to argue with a lawyer. Especially when that lawyer was an ex.

“Well, that’s the end of my list,” Daisy said, leaning over to dish herself another piece of pie.

“Uh, I have one more question,” Jo said in the prissy lady voice she always used when talking about her nemesis from church, Marjorie Flint. “When did your sisters decide to become whores and live in sin? Was it before or after they became witches?”

“Well, Marge, first, that’s two questions,” I said, laughing. “And to answer—they’ve always been whores, but they’ve been witches longer.”

Jo made to cut herself a piece of pie too, but Daisy decided to chime in.

“Miss Blum,” she said in a fake man’s voice, holding her index finger under her nose like a mustache. “Is it nice having men around the farm to do all that hard work for you?”

“You know, I just don’t know how we’ve managed all these years without a swingin’ dick around here. Sheer luck that we could open our own jars, I guess.”

I took a seat next to Daisy and got a piece of pie for myself to the tune of three giggling sisters.

“You’re gonna do great,” Jo said, taking a bite. “You know how to handle the town better than Duke ever will. Just keep reminding them you’ve been here all these years while he’s been gone. What even happened to the boy who used to live here? In high school, he was Mr. Football, valedictorian. He was even in AcaDork and still managed to make the homecoming court.”

“Don’t make fun of the Academic Decathlon kids,” I chided. “That’s their whole personality.”

Jo scoffed. “Now it looks like Duke’s personality is being a politician.”

“Gross,” Daisy said. “I liked him better as a football player, all told.”

“I even liked him better in AcaDork,” Jo pointed out. “Anything but… well, whatever he is now.”

One of Daisy’s brows rose. “Oh, I caught a glimpse of the old Duke at the arena. I remember how he looked in a pair of Levi’s and didn’t think age would serve him better, but here we are.”

“God, how many rodeo venues have I been to in this state?” I asked no one. “There really was nothing like watching him compete.”

“And the new Duke nearly got you killed doing it. How resourceful,” Jo snarked.

“He didn’t mean for me to get hurt. That much I believe.”

“How can you be sure?” Jo asked. “He’s a smelly lying liar who lies.”

“I don’t know anymore,” I admitted.

My sisters looked at me like my forehead had sprouted an arm.

“I still hate him, if that helps.”

“It doesn’t,” Jo answered. “He’s a manipulative son of a bitch who’s been jerking you around since he got here. The whole business with the dance? The roping, his spot at the farmer’s market? All the ‘random’ times you’ve bumped into him? I’m not buying all that being a coincidence.”

“No doubt,” I agreed. “But he didn’t intend for me to get hurt in the arena.”

“How about when he cheated on you with that snot?”

“I don’t think he did that either.”

It seemed another arm sprang out of my skull from the expressions on their faces.

I sighed. “As much as I love to say he’s a stranger to me, the truth is that I know him. I can tell when he’s bullshitting, and I don’t think he’s lying about her. He said as much back then, but… well, it was so much easier to hate him if he’d slept with her.”

“I can’t believe you’re defending him,” Jo said, stabbing a slice of gooey peach and shoveling it into her mouth.

“I’m the last person to admit I was wrong—”

Jo’s brow rose.

“Okay, second to last. But do you think I’d admit to believing him if I wasn’t sure he was telling the truth?”

“But how do you really know?” Daisy asked, her brows stitched together.

“I just can. I know the difference between him being vulnerable on purpose and on accident, and that was definitely on accident.”

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